RSL-Arizona Under-16 Team Set for USSDA’s National Championship “Finals Week” in Milwaukee

The RSL-Arizona Academy Under-16 Team is just hours away from beginning play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s “Finals Week” national championships, taking place at three sites in Milwaukee, Wis., through Saturday, July 16. The RSL-AZ U-16s (16-8-4 in regular season; 11-6-1, 2nd in SoCal Division) qualified for Finals Week after going 2-0-1 in the opening playoff round two weeks ago at Pizza Hut Park, including a thorough 7-0 win over FC Westchester in their decisive group match to clinch one of the eight spots available at this week’s championships.

The RSL-Arizona Academy, the 18th of 32 seeds in the playoffs, has been placed in Group 2 alongside #15 CASL Chelsea FC Academy (Raleigh, N.C.), #7 North Carolina Fusion (Greensboro, N.C.) and #11 PA Classics (East Petersburg, Penn.). A pair of fellow MLS youth sides – Seattle Sounders FC and the LA Galaxy – are on the opposite side of the bracket in Group 1 along with Dallas Texans and Real SoCal. The RSL-AZ Academy kicks off playthis afternoon with a 4:30 p.m. MT affair with North Carolina Fusion, followed by Tuesday’s afternoon encounter with PA Classics (1:00 p.m.) and Thursday’s group finale against CASL Chelsea FC Academy (5:00 p.m.). The four placement games will be held on Saturday, including the championship match at 7:00 p.m. MT at Marquette University’s Valley Fields.

Real Salt Lakewould like to congratulate RSL-Arizona Academy head coachMike Muñoz, who was named the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s U-15/16 Coach of the Year. Muñoz took over the first-year Academy club part way through the season and led them to an automatic playoff spot by finishing second in the SoCal Division. The team’s 16-8-4 overall record led to a No. 18 seed in the Academy Playoffs, where the side earned a place at the upcoming Finals Week.

In addition, a pair of Muñoz’s players, RSL-AZ U-18 FW Maikon Orrellana and U-16 DF Julio Alcaron, also earned season-ending plaudits by making the USSDA’s national “Starting XI” sides: